County Liquor

The county liquor board will consider three applications tonight, including a license transfer from Buell's restaurant, a Route 40 landmark, to a family that wants to open a Chinese-Szechwan eatery.The sale of Buell's to the Lee family of Ellicott City hinges upon the transfer of the tavern license. The Lee family plans to open Uncle Y.Y.'s.When Buell's opened in 1939, it was the only restaurant along Route 40 west of Baltimore.Truckers Inn, a full-service trucking facility at 7401 Assateague Drive in Jessup, has applied for a new beer, wine and liquor license for its restaurant and lounge.

Five Harford County establishments licensed to sell alcoholic beverages failed the latest compliance test by the county liquor control board by selling to a minor working undercover with liquor board inspectors and the county sheriff's office, liquor board officials said. In all, 27 licensed businesses were checked Monday, with 22 not selling to the minor, the liquor board said in a news release issued Thursday. Of the five locations that sold alcohol to the 19-year-old employee of the liquor board's undercover program, none of them requested identification from the board's underage purchaser, the liquor board said.

The owners of two eastern Howard County liquor outlets received stiff fines for serving underage patrons and ignoring other board rules. The county's Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board imposed a $3,000 fine on Barbara Parkinson, John Curtis and Michael Halkos, licensees of the Wild Buffalo Grill in the 10000 block of Washington Blvd. in North Laurel. A $1,500 fine was imposed on Grace Chong and Mary Soon Kim, license holders of Waterloo Liquors in the 6500 block of Old Waterloo Road in Elkridge.

Simon Paul "Sy" Jarosinski Jr., a retired aeronautical engineer and former member of the Baltimore County Liquor Board, died April 30 of ischemic cardiomyopathy at his Timonium home. He was 90. The son of a Baltimore City councilman and a homemaker, Mr. Jarosinski was born in Baltimore and raised near Patterson Park. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Jarosinski went to work in 1940 for the old Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River, eventually becoming an aeronautical engineer.

To the cheers of Rosedale residents and Catholic school children, the Baltimore County Liquor Board denied permission yesterday for a large show bar to open in a former dinner club building on Pulaski Highway.The decision came at a boisterous 4 1/2 -hour hearing that was the latest effort by Rosedale residents to combat the decline of their area from prostitution and petty crime along Pulaski Highway (U.S. 40), their leaders said.More than 100 protesters, not including the children, attended the session and submitted petitions with 1,132 signatures to the board.

A last-minute buyer could change the fortunes of a retired, debt-ridden Baltimore County businessman whose liquor license was in danger of being declared worthless.Joseph and Mary Powers of Towson, owners of the former Cedonia Mall Spirit Shop, have a deal to sell their license for $15,000 to Abbas and Fortunee Oziel, who operate a pizza restaurant in the 8600 block of Philadelphia Road, near Golden Ring Mall.The county liquor board has scheduled a hearing March 7.Although the proceeds, minus commissions and taxes, won't cover the $35,000 in debts left from when the business closed in November 1992, Mr. Powers said he hopes to have enough to negotiate partial payments with his creditors.

In a move that will boost new businesses trying to penetrate the York Road corridor, owners of several coveted -- but long unused -- Baltimore County liquor licenses are selling out under pressure from a new state law.The scarcity of the tightly controlled licenses has slowed development in some parts of the county, including Towson.Two of the licenses would be shifted there, one to an existing restaurant and another to a new commercial complex in the former Hutzler's building. Another license would be shifted to a new chain restaurant in Timonium; 11 others are scheduled for sale and transfer to new locations around the county.

PRINCESS ANNE -- Smith Island, a fishing community known for its pious sobriety since the 1600s, will keep its ban on alcohol sales.A handful of islanders sat quietly last night as the three-member Somerset County liquor board rejected shopkeeper Stephen Eades' plans for a seven-day tavern license that would have allowed beer and wine to be sold at one of the two small grocery stores that serve 347 residents who live in the isolated villages of Ewell, Tylerton...

Carroll County's liquor board fined four businesses last week for selling alcoholic beverages to minors during March and April.Cited were: BJ's Liquors in Mount Airy; Cranberry Liquors, Westminster; Ye Olde Package Goods, Sykesville; and Timothy's, Hampstead.Cranberry Liquors was fined $500. The others also were fined $500, but $250 of the fine was suspended. The licensees, or their legal representatives, attended and pleaded guilty in each case. The fines must be paid within 30 days.An inspector for the county liquor board, accompanied by a 20-year-old state police cadet, made random visits to businesses licensed to sell alcohol on March 8 and April 5.Pub Date: 6/02/96

The county liquor board has ruled that the owners of Spittel's Crab House in Sykesville cannot apply for a liquor license again for six months because they violated county law.The restaurant, at 1043 Liberty Road, was closed from Sept. 14 through Oct. 12. County liquor law says an establishment cannot be closed for more than 10 consecutive days without notifying the board.Betty S. McGuirk testified at a hearing in November that her family had been operating the business because she was ill.Co-owner Patricia M. Prediger testified she had not been aware the business was closed for that period.

If you would like to open a bar or restaurant that sells alcoholic beverages on the Liberty Road corridor in Baltimore County, a liquor license will run you $2,000. About a 20-minute drive away, Joe's Crab Shack, a chain restaurant that's moving into the Hunt Valley Towne Centre, just paid $225,000 for its liquor license. The reason? An antiquated system that allots licenses by population in districts drawn decades ago and allows those licenses to be bought and sold on the open market.

Jaywalking woman severely hurt by car A Severna Park woman was severely injured when she stepped into the path of an oncoming car on a highway in the community, Anne Arundel County police said. Vilma Maria Posson, 51, of the 600 block of Ritchie Highway, was running across the southbound lanes of Route 2 just before 11 p.m. Saturday when she was struck by a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. She sustained extensive head injuries and was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition.

The owners of two Howard County liquor stores who violated numerous laws were fined $500 each and one was ordered to close for two days. In the case of U.S. 1 Liquors, in the 8100 block of Washington Blvd. in Jessup, the county's Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board used an interpreter for the first time to help Jong Choe to understand the proceedings. Choe was in Korea during the first scheduled hearing Dec. 11. Board members had harsh comments during a Jan. 8 hearing about how Choe's store was operated.

The owners of two eastern Howard County liquor outlets received stiff fines for serving underage patrons and ignoring other board rules. The county's Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board imposed a $3,000 fine on Barbara Parkinson, John Curtis and Michael Halkos, licensees of the Wild Buffalo Grill in the 10000 block of Washington Blvd. in North Laurel. A $1,500 fine was imposed on Grace Chong and Mary Soon Kim, license holders of Waterloo Liquors in the 6500 block of Old Waterloo Road in Elkridge.

The longtime chief inspector of the Baltimore County liquor board denied yesterday that former Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell Sr. had unusual influence over the board as he boasted to an undercover federal agent in a series of wiretaps released this week. Bromwell, under indictment for corruption charges, was recorded in 2001 assuring the agent that his connections could secure permission for an off-track betting facility in Baltimore County. Bromwell said he could get the state's major thoroughbred racetracks to go along, as well as the county's liquor board.

Four Howard county restaurants are facing fines totaling $1,050 for allowing drinking after hours. A $100 fine was imposed in a written decision yesterday on the owners of Crickett's Bar, in the 9700 block of Washington Blvd. in Laurel, by the county liquor board, which is made up of County Council members. The county liquor inspector, Detective Martin Johnson, found two employees drinking at 2:53 a.m. Jan. 21. In decisions signed July 27 by the county's Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board, owners of the Ram's Head at Savage Mill and Sonoma's Bar and Grille in Owen Brown Village Center were each ordered to pay $350 for allowing alcohol to be imbibed after the 2 a.m. closing time.

Some Carroll County restaurant owners have banded together to fight a proposed amendment to the county's liquor regulations, which would impose additional restrictions on when restaurants can serve alcohol.Under the proposal, restaurants in Carroll County could begin serving alcohol one hour before meals are available and must stop serving liquor an hour after the kitchen closes.In a letter to the Board of License Commissioners, restaurant owners Monday said the proposed regulation would drive away late diners who might linger over a bottle of wine and customers who stop by for dessert and after-dinner drinks.

State troopers and town police carry pistols as part of their job, but do Carroll County liquor inspectors need to? Should the county liquor board develop a policy that allows its inspectors to carry firearms on their rounds? If so, under what conditions are these firearms to be used?In light of testimony at the last liquor board meeting, all of these questions deserve answers. County liquor inspector Charles Kaizer, a retired state trooper licensed to carry a pistol, arms himself when he makes his rounds.

Anne Arundel County officials are preparing for a serious uptick in liquor-license requests for restaurants - from local vendors and national chains alike - now that a new state law has opened the door to more dining options in the county's fastest-growing areas. Since legislation took effect July 1 allowing restaurateurs to hold up to six licenses in Anne Arundel, the county liquor board has received 15 inquiries for licenses, up from the average of two or three a month, said Victoria Bowen, a county liquor board administrator.

Sun deliveryman stabbed in Middle River A 64-year-old Baltimore Sun newspaper deliveryman was stabbed early yesterday in the Middle River area while he was working, county police said. William Shull was near the first block of Stemmers Run Road around 4:25 a.m. when he was stabbed in the chest, police said. Shull got into his vehicle and chased the attacker. He used his vehicle to pin the man against a fence until it collapsed, and the man ran away. Shull then went to a nearby Crown gas station and called 911, police said.